Asus recently announced the new generation of ROG line of smartphones like they do every year. But this year, they went wilder with the introduction of the Asus ROG Phone 5. The device comes with literally no compromise with top-of-the-line specifications, and with features that can’t be seen in many premium flagships. With the ROG Phone 5, Asus has managed to fit all its top-tier features at just ₹49,999. The device comes in 8GB,12GB, and 16GB RAM variants. There is also another version of the device, ROG Phone 5 Ultimate with 18GB RAM, but we will not talk about that. So, let’s dive into the full review of the Asus ROG Phone 5.
Design and Display
The ROG Phone 5 features a gorgeous 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED panel from Samsung. The display has a 20.5:5 aspect ratio. The display supports HDR10+, has a 144Hz high refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling rate, which is the highest refresh rate display available in the market right now(Asus ROG Phone 3 too had a 144hz refresh rate). The display has a peak brightness of 1300 nits. The display provides very good, punchy, and saturated colors. Gaming on the device just feels like paradise thanks to the display. The display doesn’t have any cutout like Notch or punch-hole due to which gaming feels better and immersive. The display is covered with Gorilla Glas Victus, which is currently the hardest and most durable glass available in the industry.
The ROG Phone 5 feels quite big and premium in hand. The body is made up of metal which is a good thing. The device feels polished with curved edges and a smooth slab of glass back with the geometric ROG signature design.
The device is a masterpiece of design perfection. This time they added AnimeMatrix LEDs at the back. You can change the LED colors and animation patterns of the logo in the Anime Matrix. This gives the device a unique look and a more gamey feeling. We have seen this kind of AnimeMatrix on ROG Gaming laptops. Along with the ROG design and AnimeMatrix, the device looks gorgeous. Overall the build quality and looks are fantastic.
The device weighs 239g which makes it among the heaviest smartphones but the weight distribution is just perfect. The heavyweight of the phone mainly comes due to the 6,000mAh battery. The device also has an optical in-display-mounted fingerprint scanner.
The fingerprint sensor is very fast and accurate, we didn’t face any issue regarding it. The power and volume buttons are located on the right side of the frame. The sim tray is located on the left. At the bottom, the device has two USB Type-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. A headphone jack is also a plus point in any device. There is also a pogo pin connector for accessories besides the second USB Type C port.
Performance and Software
The ROG Phone 5 is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, which also powers all the top-tier flagships in 2021. The Chipset is based on a 5nm process and comes with one “Prime Core” based on an ARM Cortex-X1 clocked at up to 2.84 GHz, Three performance cores are based on the ARM Cortex-A78 clocked up to 2.42 GHz and four energy-saving cores based on the ARM Cortex-A55 clocked at up to 1.8 GHz coupled with the powerful Adreno 660. The SoC also has the Snapdragon X60 5G modem, a WiFi 6e modem, a Hexagon 780 DSP, and a Spectra 580 ISP.
The device comes with ROG UI based on Android 11 which has tons of features exclusive to the ROG devices. The performance is just unbeatable. Gaming on this device felt extraordinary with no lag and snappy. We played several games and observed that the device does get heated a bit due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. But the performance was uncompromised.
Due to the LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 inbuilt storage, game loading times were incredible and unmatched. The haptic feedback experience was also incredible and the in-game haptics were spot on. The Pressure-sensitive Gaming triggers are just awesome, works super fine with no delay.
The Armoury Crate app is just exceptionally good software dedicated to gamers. You can Map the triggers, optimize the gameplay, show fps overlay, and much more using the app. The app is very handy and easy to use. The X-mode, integrated in the software will enhance the gaming experience and give you more performance.
This time, Asus has also focused on audio as it is one of the key features while gaming therefore they added front stereo speakers which are really incredible and are a bit louder with 7-magnet speakers too. The 3.5mm headphone jack produces awesome audio thanks to the DAC support.
Camera
The ROG Phone 5 comes with a triple rear camera setup. The 64-megapixel primary camera has a Sony IMX686 sensor with 0.8um pixel size. With the Quad-Bayer technology, the images are processed into a more detailed 16-megapixel shot with a 1.6um effective pixel size. The shutter is snappy and with f/1.8 aperture and PDAF, the daylight shots are crisp and the colors are pretty much accurate. The Night mode shots were pretty well decent and can’t complain. But still, Asus can optimize more to fully utilize the capability of the sensor.
The secondary 13-megapixel ultra-wide rear camera has a field of view ranging to 125-degree and f/2.4 aperture. This time, Asus has well optimized the camera and removed distortion, as seen on previous generations. The daylight shots from the U/W lens are quite good and the colors are pretty much accurate. Night mode shots struggle a bit still can’t complain as it isn’t a camera-centric device.
This time Asus went to another level with the Video capabilities, Thanks to the Sony flagship sensor and the Snapdragon 888 chip. The added 8K 30fps video shooting along with 4K 30fps and 60fps. Also, they added 3-axis Gyro-EIS image stabilization for clearer shots and less jittery videos. We tested the video capabilities and were quite shocked. The videography was smooth, nice crisp quality, and less jittery.
Here are some camera samples that we shot using the Asus ROG Phone 5:
Connectivity and battery life
The ROG Phone 5 comes with a 6000mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging, 10W Reverse charging, Power Delivery 3.0, and Quick Charge 5. Asus has actually put two separate 3,000 mAh cells, with MMT tech and double-wired split design, to allow the 65W charging speed without generating too much heat. This technology is similar to Oppo’s SuperVOOC technology. The 65W charger provided by Asus supports Quick Charge 5.0 so you can use it on other devices too. Asus claimed that the ROG Phone 5 can charge up to 70% in 30 minutes and 100% in 52 minutes, which was more or less true. It took us around 55 minutes to charge from 0% to 100% at idle conditions.
If we talk about battery life, it is excellent for a gaming-centric device. We played Free Fire and COD Mobile for around 4hrs and saw the battery went to around 45%, which was okay for a gaming device. If you are someone who plays games for 1-2 hrs a day, then you can easily stretch the battery life throughout the day.
The ROG Phone 5 supports Dual 5G, Bluetooth 5.2, Dual 4G VoLTE as well as VoWiFi, Dual-band Wifi 6e, and Dual-band GPS. The network reception was quite fantastic and we didn’t face any network drop. 4G Carrier Aggregation is also present in the device which is an obvious thing. GPS was quite accurate and we didn’t find any issues. We tested 4G connectivity and network speeds were quite good. But the only thing we couldn’t test was 5G due to the unavailability in India.
Conclusion
The device is truly a gaming beast with all the necessary features needed in a Gaming Flagship, Even though you can use it besides gaming as it has everything a decent flagship needs. We can easily recommend this for someone who is not just looking for a gaming smartphone but due to its excellent looks and excellence in every department of the device, be it battery to 144Hz gorgeous AMOLED screen. It is purely a complete package. The finest Asus ROG Phone ever. They have improved the camera significantly from the previous generation. Therefore the device gets an easy recommendation from our side. Still, you have some alternatives to the device, like the iQOO 5 Legend or the Oneplus 9. We hope all your queries are resolved and you can have a good buy. Stay Safe and healthy in this Pandemic.
Pros:
- Top-notch performance
- Looks and feels premium
- Excellent display
- Superfast charging
- Excellent software experience
Cons:
- Decent cameras which could’ve better
- A bit bulky for everyday use
Disclaimer: This product was thoroughly tested by the editor, whose thoughts regarding the product are being portrayed in the article. The Author did not test the product himself, but, has been briefed regarding the experience of the Editor post usage.
